Complaint Over Dressing In Hospital Scrubs Could Become Class Action Lawsuit

DENVER (CBS4)– The complaint over putting on scrubs at a hospital could become a class action lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed by two nurses at Aurora Medical Center. They believe more employees of the hospital group both locally and nationwide will join in the lawsuit once their complaint is heard.

A district court judge has ruled all employees of HealthOne at five Denver area hospitals may be able to join the lawsuit.

The nurses involved are required to wear scrubs while on the job. Those scrubs are not allowed to leave the hospital. The process could add 15 minutes to their shift.

“We have to go into a certain area not by the time clock, to find our size, which is not readily available and then change and then go back to the time clock and punch in,” said Aurora Medical Center nurse Natalie Fiore.

Fiore and Lisa Stransky have filed a lawsuit against HealthOne of Denver, the parent company of Aurora Medical Center. They said it became a problem when they were written up specifically for attempting to clock in before they changed and for being late to their unit as a result of the scrub change.

The attorney representing the nurses, Kyle Bachus, said 15 minutes doesn’t seem like much time, but it adds up quickly over a year.

“That might sound insignificant unless you are the single mom who is showing up to work 15 minutes early and leaving 15 minutes late so you can accomplish these tasks for every shift. You multiply that by nurses, hours and shifts over years and it is a significant amount of time,” said Bachus.

HealthOne released this statement regarding the lawsuit, “We have and always will look out for the best interest of our employees and that includes complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act.”